Why don't pro riders use the Mako?

[rightguard]

Ok I'll keep riding my Mako and enjoying it. Today was nasty chop and the board is still fun.

What about different sizes... Does anyone ride the 130 or the new 135?

How about the King... Is it at all fun in crazy chop or only on smoother days?

[windybrit]

According to one guy from my LKS The King is "like a hovercraft "...... I ride mine with the surf pad and straps (am trying to ride it strapless a bit too) but with the twin fin setup.... In light wind Its way more fun than a big square TT (it does need a couple of knots to make it work compared to my Glide) When its strong and gusty the bigger board lets you float through the lulls better than a smaller TT would. I've never ridden a surfboard but I'd imagine its close albeit with less buoyancy....

Ok I'll keep riding my Mako and enjoying it. Today was nasty chop and the board is still fun.

What about different sizes... Does anyone ride the 130 or the new 135?

How about the King... Is it at all fun in crazy chop or only on smoother days?

[tautologies]

for me it was a little too soft...but I am no pro tho.... Too soft...especially when you try to jump. Obviously I have not had a lot of time on the board, but I dunno...too much rocker, and too little feel? I could probably have spent more time on the board to give it a fair-er shake...

I guess it is the same as the hovercraft thing..like when I pushed to jump, it felt like the board disappeared under me.

[alexrider]

for me it was a little too soft...but I am no pro tho.... Too soft...especially when you try to jump. Obviously I have not had a lot of time on the board, but I dunno...too much rocker, and too little feel? I could probably have spent more time on the board to give it a fair-er shake...

I guess it is the same as the hovercraft thing..like when I pushed to jump, it felt like the board disappeared under me.

I've moved the fins near to the feet by 1.5 - 2 inches, and replaced them by 8 cm higher aspect ratio ones.
Much crispier and loose feel.
No more sideways loss of grip when carving or edging too hard.
Easier landings.
More like surfboard.
And perhaps even better upwind.
Just a little inch, and you have another board.

[Charlie d]

Its the concave thta make pop bad. Its nic for slashing jumps. If you really want to maximize the height of your jumps even hooked in you should be getting some hold and release/"pop" from you board. If your technique is perfect you may see improvements with a standard twin twip.

[edt]

Pros could ride a kitchen tray and make it look good. The only reason pros don't ride the Mako is because they don't sponsor wakestyle riders. Wakestyle is not Mako's market. It's not the board that makes Hadlow, Zoon, Langeree sick riders.

[tomatkins]

What about different sizes... Does anyone ride the 130 or the new 135?

I would like to hear more about the characteristics of these smaller Makos.

I have the old 150 Mako Classic (not made any more) and love the board for the higher wind days in the Columbia River Gorge... but it does not have the "classic Mako feel" (carvey and loose) like the new 150 or the King... rather, it feels like a Ginsu knife slicing through the chop.

I have not tried the 130 or 135 for comparison. I would appreciate anyone's comments on this aspect of the little boards.

[Balloonboy]

I have a 130 after buying the King. I really like it but am so wave oriented these days that I don't go out unless there is some swell so I find I don't use it much.
I'm going to sell it (shipped from Atlanta) if anyone is interested .

[Charlie d]

Pros could ride a kitchen tray and make it look good. The only reason pros don't ride the Mako is because they don't sponsor wakestyle riders. Wakestyle is not Mako's market. It's not the board that makes Hadlow, Zoon, Langeree sick riders.

Hadlow and Zoon both have their own pro model board though. Hadlow actually has 2. They could design them like Makos if they wanted but they are lucky people than never have to ride chopy water.

[dwarf]

I used to have a 3 board quiver. A mako , a directional wave board and a freestyle board. As such I have ridden several makos over the years. From my experience, the makos that are less wide (i.e. 135, 130 or the 150 classic=avatar) can hold a ton of kitepower and are perfectly to boost big air. Technique is to load up the rail a little bit more from the center instead of the tail. On wider makos (140 and up) I find this harder but it can also be that I am not really a big guy and I only used the mako when I felt like doing an oldschool session. (i.e. really powered up) The bigger makos are more surfy / carvey though.

It is hard to define a board purely by shape or flex pattern but outline makes the biggest difference in pop, not the flex. In fact a stiffer board can pop harder in flat water than a flexible board. (look at a true wakestyle board for example, these are stiff as hell) If you generate pop properly you load your lines/kite. Releasing this tension gives the sudden power boost, it is not like your board acts as a spring or something. (ah what am I doing TheJoe has said it al with fewer words.... props!)

It is a little bit hard to pinpoint your problem as it is not described in detail but if you are in doubt just try some boards with a different outline and see what you like best. Might be that you fall in love with your mako all over again.